14

Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE - Friday, August 9, 2019 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records the votes of local representatives from the week of July 29-August 2. There were no important roll calls in the Senate last week. SUBSCRIBE TO MASSTERLIST – IT’S FREE! Join more than 17,000 other people from movers and shakers to political junkies and interested citizens who start their morning with a copy of MASSterList! MASSterList is a daily ensemble of news and commentary about the Legislature, Politics, Media and Judiciary of Massachusetts drawn from major news organizations as well as specialized publications selected by widely acclaimed and highly experienced editor Jay Fitzgerald. Jay introduces each article in his own clever and never-boring, inimitable way. Go to: www.massterlist. com/subscribe and type in your email address and in 15 seconds you will be signed up for a free subscription. With no strings attached. NO VETOES OF FUNDING IN $43.3 BILLION STATE BUDGET – In an unusual move, Gov. Charlie Baker signed the fi scal 2020 state budget into law without vetoing any of the $43.3 billion in spending approved by the House and Senate. Beacon Hill Roll Call talked to several Statehouse veterans and not one could remember any other time in the last four decades that the governor did not veto funding in the budget. Just last year, Baker vetoed $48.9 million from a $41.7 billion budget. “The lieutenant governor and I and the secretary [of Administration and Finance] and a lot of our team spent a lot of time talking about the line item stuff , and basically came to the conclusion that this budget is balanced,” said Baker at the signing ceremony last week. “We’re obviously going to pay a lot of attention to what happens to revenues in the fi rst two quarters of the year, because we did have a lot of volatility in the revenue base for 2019. So we’re going to work pretty hard to pay attention not just to the revenue side but also the spending side going forward.” “Only a besieged governor embroiled in so many distractions, could not fi nd a single cent of wasteful spending that needed his veto in a bloated $43.3 billion budget, an increase of almost $2 billion over last year’s spending,” said Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “With a fiscal year 2019 ‘revenue surplus’ (overtaxation) bonanza of $2 billion to squander, Charlie Baker, who needs to be loved at any cost, had to keep all his friends in the Legislature happy with him — fat, happy, and satiated.” Baker did veto six items in the budget, including a section that included the state’s meals tax among the items exempt from the state’s 6.25 sales tax during the sales tax holiday weekend set for Aug. 17 and 18. On those two days, consumers can buy most products that cost under $2,500 without paying the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. The Revenue Department ruled a few weeks ago that for the fi rst time, meals would be exempt from the sales tax that weekend. The department also ruled that alcohol would not be exempt. This created a problem for restaurants because restaurants don’t separate food and alcohol when diners are given their tab. The establishment taxes both and does not have a system to separate the two. There was agreement among the governor, the legislative leadership and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association that the best solution was to follow what was done at all other sales tax holidays and not exempt meals from the sales tax. “Something needed to be done,” said Bob Luz, the CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. “We thank Gov. Baker and the Legislature for coming to a resolution. “Many restaurant systems are not equipped to handle both taxable and non-taxable items on the same transaction and there was much confusion in the function business,” continued Luz. “Restaurant owners would have had to produce two separate checks to customers, one with nontaxed food items and the other will taxable alcohol purchases, creating confusion for owners, employees and the general public. The burden far outweighed any potential benefi ts.” ALLOW UNIONS TO CHARGE NON-UNION MEMBERS FOR SOME COSTS (H 3854) House 156-1 approved (Senate approved on a voice vote without a roll call) and sent to Gov. Baker a bill that would allow unions to charge nonmembers for the cost of some services and representation. The bill was fi led as a response to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees case that public employees cannot be forced to pay fees or dues to a union to which he or she does not belong.Freedom of speech advocates hailed the decision while labor advocates said it was an unjust attack on union. After the House and Senate approved the bill in early July and sent it to Gov. Baker, the governor proposed several amendments that he said would protect the privacy rights of public employees and correct statutory inconsistencies. Both branches rejected the amendments. “Today the Massachusetts House of Representatives stood up for workers,” said Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman when the House fi rst approved the bill. “They stood up for workers and against the right-wing special interests that forced their anti-union views across the country through the misguided and political Janus Supreme Court ruling.” “Unfortunately, what we saw during the Janus ‘fi x’ debate was just another instance of House and Senate leadership not playing well with others,” said Paul Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Rather than considering the governor’s suggestions, lawmakers rammed through rejections of the proposals on an almost party line. If signed into law, state workers’ privacy will be violated by union bosses who can access their personal contact information without their consent.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Bob DeLeo Yes Rep. RoseLee Vincent Yes IMPROVE CHILDREN’S HEALTH (H 4012) House 152-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill designed to make it easier for children and their families to navigate the state’s complicated and often difficult to understand health-care system. A key provision requires health insurance companies to perform monthly updates of their provider databases that tell patients which doctors and other medical resources are available to them. Patients complain that many physicians are listed as local and taking new patients despite having retired, moved or stopped accepting new patients. The measure ensures that foster children are able to remain covered by MassHealth until they turn 26, the same option that children covered by their parents’ private insurance currently have. It also creates a Health Policy Commission analysis of children under age 21 with medical complexities, their insurance and availability of care. “I am proud of the House’s leadership and steadfast commitment to caring for our most vulnerable children,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Claire Cronin (D-Easton). “This bill will assess the healthcare and wellness needs of children in the commonwealth and expand access to services for these children and their families. This is a step forward to ensuring that all of our children have equal access to quality healthcare.” “Nothing is more heartbreaking than talking to a constituent whose child is in crisis, but they’re having diffi culty fi nding healthcare services in the complex system of providers, insurers and resources,” said Health Care Financing Chair, Rep. Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg). “By identifying and addressing these diffi culties in this legislation, we are working to ensure that every child in the commonwealth will be able to access high-quality services quickly and effi ciently.” “This bill makes important reforms to increase access to healthcare, supports further study of issues critical to children’s behavioral health and takes an important look at improving the state’s foster care system,” said Rep. Marjorie Decker (DCambridge). “It will strengthen and expand access to care for children both by collecting data, as well as assessing current methods in the pursuit of providing the kind of behavioral health care children need.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Bob DeLeo Yes Rep. RoseLee Vincent Yes MEET BEYOND 9 P.M. House 125-31, approved a motion to allow the House session to continue beyond 9 p.m. Under House rules, the House cannot meet after 9 p.m. unless the rule is suspended. Supporters of rule suspension said that the House has business to fi nish and should stay in session to work on it. Opponents of rule suspension said it is irresponsible for the House to debate and vote late at night when taxpayers are asleep. (A “Yes” vote is for meeting beyond 9 p.m. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Bob DeLeo Yes Rep. RoseLee Vincent Yes HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been fi led. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session. During the week of July 29-August 2, the House met for a total of seven hours and 25 minutes while the Senate met for a total of eight hours and 21 minutes. Mon. July 29 House 11:02 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Senate 11:04 a.m. to 4:59 p.m. Tues. July 30 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:06 a.m. No Senate session Wed. July 31 House 11:08 a.m. to 4:36 p.m. No Senate session Thurs. Aug 1 House 11:06 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Senate 1:04 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fri. Aug. 2 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com

15 Publizr Home